


Change My World

by taiimako



Series: Ohya and Mishima [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Older Woman/Younger Man, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Slight Canon Divergence, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:14:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23766739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taiimako/pseuds/taiimako
Summary: Amamiya tricks Mishima into going on a "blind date" with Ohya. Mishima leaves, Ohya drinks, and everything is as it should be - the two should never see each other again.But Mishima comes back, and that changes things.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Slight AU elements to make the story work better, but nothing major. The rest of the Persona 5 plot points remain the same.
Relationships: Mishima Yuuki/Ohya Ichiko
Series: Ohya and Mishima [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1708375
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Change My World

Amamiya arranges the meeting between the two of them and assures her that Mishima will be entirely compliant with her demands. She takes his word for it.

When Mishima finally shows up, he’s wiping his palms on his pants as he hastily introduces himself to her with a blush on his face and a stutter in his voice. It’s cute, she has to admit. Then he asks her:

“So… this is where you wanted to go on a first date?”

She can’t help but burst out into laughter, and she hasn’t even had any drinks yet.

“A date?” She tries to slow her laughter, but the look of absolute horror on his face starts the whole thing anew. “You - ha! - you really thought this was a date? What did Amamiya tell you?”

He sighs. “He said that this was going to be a blind date. Clearly, he was making fun of me.”

“Clearly! Plus, this is a bar - I think I’m a bit too old for you!” The laughs threaten to come back as she says that, but she manages to keep herself in check.

Thank God she does, because there’s a shift in his stance that Ohya recognizes. He’s resigned now, waiting for her to say something or do something, like a prey awaiting the ambush of a predator. It’s like he’s waiting for - no,  _ expecting  _ her to hurt him. She already had, of course.

Dammit. Now she feels like a heel. Laughing at the bullied kid? How low could she go?

Ohya decides to end his torment before she loses out on her big scoop. “Look, Mishima, if you sit down, I can tell you what this is all about.” She claps her hands, playing the part of the rich patron. “Lala! Fetch the two of us some ice waters, please!”

The bartender scoffs from her position behind Ohya. “No alcohol this time, Ohya? Finally reigning in your habits, then?”

“As if! I just don’t wanna be tipsy on the job, that’s all. I’ll be back to puking outside the bar before ya know it.”

Based on his stiff posture and awkward look, Mishima doesn’t quite know how to react to the byplay. That’s fine. She isn’t here to entertain him, after all.

Ohya explains why she’s called him here. He’s clearly annoyed that Amamiya would trick him into participating in an interview - especially one about Kamoshida - but he seems resigned to his fate and agrees to cooperate. There’s an urge within Ohya to do a little victory dance, but she pushes it aside and settles for a fist pump and a little “whoop!” 

(She misses it, but his lips quirk up a bit at her excitement.)

For all his awkwardness, Mishima is surprisingly endearing once she gets him talking. He’s all gangly limbs and exaggerated movements, and at first, he’s still trying ever so hard to impress her. His memory isn’t too shabby, either - in fact, it’s downright impressive. She’s engaged by the detail with which he describes the events leading up to the “change of heart”; he’d be a good storyteller or a writer if he ever tried.

His initial goodwill starts to dissipate the longer the interview goes on, though. She can see flashes of annoyance every time she pushes a bit too hard, probes for a bit more information. Her no-nonsense style of questioning has been described as acerbic on her best days but she can’t afford to sugarcoat her questions nor accept incomplete answers. His answers might be becoming a bit more clipped, and his eyes might be narrowed, but she keeps writing down answers in her note pad diligently and he keeps answering her questions. As long as he keeps this up, she can’t really bring herself to care.

As she finishes up, there’s suddenly a nervous look on his face. She’s not sure why, but she figures she’s about to find out.

“Ohya,” he says with much more confidence than he seems to feel. “What are you actually gaining from this?”

She blinks at him, her mind momentarily blank. “Huh?” Suddenly she wishes she had the foresight to order something stronger than ice water. 

“I mean, you’re a reporter, so this is gonna get published. It’s just that… someone like you?” He shrugs, a clumsy attempt at aloofness. “N-no offense, but you’re apparently a drunk and you work for what I’m pretty sure is a tabloid. M-my friends and I have been b-burned by rotten adults before.” 

Mishima gulps down some of his own water before continuing. “Money, power, fame…” He holds up the glass, turning it this way and that as if the drops of condensation will reveal the answer he’s looking for. “It’s always the same thing for them.” The glass is lowered back onto the table before Mishima levels his nervous gaze on her again. “Is it the same for you?” he asks.

Ohya slams her water on the table - Mishima flinches but she can’t be bothered to feel guilty this time. “Kid - Mishima - let me tell you something.” She leans back, looks up at the ceiling. For some reason, she can’t bear to look at Mishima. “The real world isn’t nice. You’ve already got a taste of that, and I’m sorry about that, but it’s the truth.” 

She twirls her pen around in her hand. Had that panel on the roof always been that loose? “I don’t try to unveil coverups, don’t try to bring people to justice.”  _ Not anymore. _ “I chase  _ scoops _ . I want what gets the most clicks, the most bucks - not because I like money, not because I like drama, but because that’s  _ the way it is. _ I can’t do anything about it.”

“Well - why not?!” She chances a glance at him, and gone are the nervousness and the anxiety - there’s a fire in his eyes now that wasn’t there before. “Why can’t you do anything about it? Can’t you even try?!”

“No, I can’t,” Ohya replies through gritted teeth. “People like you? Idealists, who think that they alone can change things? This world is gonna chew you up and spit you out.” Ohya closes her eyes and breathes - in and out, in and out - before opening them again. “You want my advice? I think you should give up now before you get hurt. More than you already have been.”

He legitimately looks like he’s about to cry, and Ohya doesn’t know what else to say. “I just thought…” His shoulders droop and he exhales. “No, it doesn’t matter what I thought. Sorry for wasting your time.”

She sighs and reaches over to put a hand on his shoulder. “Listen, Mishima. It’s not that I don’t understand what you’re getting at. But leave that stuff to the idiots of the world, yeah?”   
  


He shakes her hand off his shoulder with a vehemence that surprises her, and he looks her dead in the eye, confidence restored. “With all due respect, Ohya, I don’t think that wanting to make a change makes you an idiot.” He gets up from the stool and walks out of the bar without giving her a second glance.

Ohya shakes her head as he goes. She’d been down that same road before, as a wide-eyed greenhorn of a journalist. Trying to use her limited power for change hadn’t helped anyone - certainly Kayo would’ve been conscious right now if she had kept her nose out of things. Mishima was going to find himself hurt or worse, and there was nothing she could do about it at this point. 

Well, Ohya knows how failure tastes. She’s tried her best, and that deserves a drink, right? She can get back to Amamiya later.

“Lala! Get me something strong. I wanna forget this conversation ever happened.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I swear, I'll make you care about this ship as much as I do.  
> This was supposed to be a non-smut one-shot. Then my brain said to me:  
> "Hey, dude. Why not make this a multichapter fic that explores their relationship in a bit more depth?"  
> And of course, like the flesh slave I am to my brain, I outlined the whole thing and am now in the process of writing it. Cool.
> 
> Side note: this is not set in the smut-verse I've got. Anything that is will be explicitly tagged as being canon to this fic.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr here! If you do, your skin will clear up and the members of your preferred gender will flock to you.


End file.
